


Of Parrots and Predilection

by kattsandbats



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Birds, Cockatiels, Fluff, M/M, Slow Burn, kenma's mom is a single parent and she's trying her best
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-12
Updated: 2017-01-17
Packaged: 2018-09-08 03:33:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,613
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8828725
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kattsandbats/pseuds/kattsandbats
Summary: Kenma adopts a cockatiel and ends up naming it after hinata (aka kenma has depression and his mom suggests they get a pet to help him cope)





	1. Sure

**Author's Note:**

> My second fic on here. I'm not sure how long i'll have it be and i'm a fairly slow writer (it took me a month to write the first chapter) so i'm not sure how often i'll update. the kenhina shows up later, the first little bit is just centered on them getting the cockatiel.
> 
> Being a bird owner myself i'll probably be throwing in some extra info on caring for birds and pet safety.

It was a fairly cloudy day as Kenma walked home alone. Lost in thought and out of power on his gaming device, he chose to walk without a distraction instead. It had been an extremely slow day and his depression was getting the worst of him again. It was always like this when autumn was over and winter closed in. 

Eventually he came to his house and took a deep breath before opening the front door. As soon as he stepped inside, his mom was on him in an instant, ruffling his hair and asking how his day was.

“Uneventful…” was all the setter replied with.

Ms. Kozume sighs and gives her son a knowing look, “Hmm, how about we make it interesting then?”

“What do you mean by that?” Kenma really wasn’t in the mood for anything. All he wanted to do was melt into his bed and sleep until he couldn’t anymore. 

“Like,how about I ask you something I’ve been thinking of for a while?” Her son doesn’t reply, but his nod signals her to continue with what she wanted to say. ”So I’ve been thinking; I’ve noticed you’ve been really down again lately and I was wondering, how would you like to get some sort of pet?”

Kenma is taken aback at this. Usually his mom would just suggest getting apple pie to go from the local bakery that was 5 minutes away, and then they’d talk while eating it on the couch in their living room. He was always happy to have these moments. They made him feel a lot better and nothing could really top it when he was having a particularly bad time.

His mom always took the time to listen and then gave him her best advice, even though it still wasn’t that great since she didn’t really know what to do to help with most of his problems. The important part though was that she tried her hardest to understand what he went through and tried to be there for him whenever she was needed. 

He was a bit surprised she hadn’t brought up getting a pet earlier though. After all, she did volunteer at the local animal shelter on Friday mornings and was always showing him photos of the new animals that they were taking care of. He really enjoyed seeing all of the new inhabitants and the details his mother would tell him about them.

Kenma finally shakily replies after a moment of silence, “Sure… But I’m not sure how good i’d be with taking care of something, Mom.”

Ms. Kozume throws an arm around Kenma, giving him a reassuring squeeze, “That's okay! when you aren't able to take care of it, I will. This can be a team effort. What do you think?”

He shifts in his seat and weighs the pros and cons in his head. Maybe this would be a good thing for him. “Sure, Let's try it.”

His mom absolutely can't stop grinning at this, starting to ramble on about an animal currently at the shelter that she really loved. The being in question was a cockatiel with no name that had been found a few weeks previous. They hadn’t found the owner so they were finally putting her up for adoption. Kenma’s mother had always had birds when she was growing up and knew everything they'd need to do to prepare for bringing the parrot home and how to take care of it properly. 

After a while of talking about it more and looking at other animals, they both agreed that they wanted to bring the bird home. Now they'd just have to go get the supplies and then adopt the cockatiel.

Ms. Kozume got up from the couch and went to get her purse while calling to her son, “Honey, do you want to come with to get the cage and supplies or would you like to stay home?”

Kenma pursed his lips and fidgeted with his hands as he let out a weak “Sure.”

And so, they then headed out to buy what they needed.


	2. Cockatiel

Getting everything they needed was an ordeal. Kenma knew nothing about bird care and everything his mom was saying was so new to him that he didn't really know what to do with all the information. Kenma couldn’t help but take out his phone every few seconds, nervously texting a certain crow named Shouyou about what was going on. The short redhead was excited, asking questions a mile a minute, each of which he didn’t know the answer to and had to ask his mom about. 

After stopping by another pet store and getting the last thing they needed —food— they went home to set up everything. The flight cage they’d gotten was absolute hell to put together and if it weren’t for the pictures on the directions, they wouldn’t have gotten it done correctly. After the cage was finished being put up, his mother checks to make sure there’s nothing wrong with the bars and the door locks. After Ms. Kozume deems it worthy enough for a living creature to safely sleep in and stay in when they aren’t home, she grins again and lightly shakes Kenma’s shoulder with her hands, telling him that now was the fun part. 

She quickly grabs their bags with all the perches and toys among other necessities they'd purchased for the avian. Getting everything out of the bag, Kenma set to work getting everything unpackaged and his mom placed each thing in the cage so the bird would be able to play and flit around when inside of it. After she was satisfied with the setup she had her son put the other playthings for their new feathered friend up around the house while she herself checked to make sure the room was safe for a parrot to be out in.

Everything was going well. They'd done what they needed to prepare, so now all they had to do was go adopt the cockatiel the next day. As Kenma got into bed, he found he couldn't sleep well, for he was too nervous about how meeting the bird might go. What if it hated him? Never even came near him? He fidgeted with his phone and debated sending a text to Kuroo. He was surely asleep by now though, so he ended up letting out a long sigh and put his mobile device down. He'd just have to keep trying to sleep at this point. 

In the morning, Kenma finds himself up before his mother and sitting in the kitchen with slightly burnt toast in his mouth while anxiously texting both Kuroo and Shouyou. Kuroo would have offered to come with, but had other plans with the other 3rd years thatYaku wouldn't let him get out of. Shouyou on the other hand kept telling him to breathe and to try to focus on something else, offering to distract him with asking about some of his current video games.

Soon it comes to be time for them to go, and he can't help but feel a little more jittery than before. They get into their small car and head out. The car ride is silent, but not in an overwhelmingly awkward way. As soon as they were pulled up to the animal shelter, Kenma felt a bit calmer. Stepping out of the car, he handed the carrier they'd brought to his mom and followed her closely.

The people inside the building greeted her warmly, recognizing Kenma’s mother immediately and having her sign in before they took the two of them back to meet the bird. Opening the door to the room slowly, Kenma’s eyes rest on the animal in question.

The first sight of her is intimidating to him. The cockatiel is sitting stock still and unblinking, obviously nervous with having people in the room. Her body is gray, her head yellow with orange spots on the side where her cheeks are. Her tail is longer than he expected and has bars running along the bottom of it. She’s adorable, and he can’t help but worry about messing everything up completely with caring for the bird. 

They walk over to the cage that she’s in and the staff talk to them about her. The meeting goes quickly and makes Kenma’s mother even more enthusiastic about bringing her home. Soon they have all the papers filled out and the small feathered creature is in a carrier in Kenma’s hands.

He’s shaking as he carries the bird home in it’s newly purchased travel cage. He’s never handled any birds before and most animals tended to avoid him so he was terrified that he might accidentally hurt the poor thing. If he trusted himself to carry it one handedly then he’d get out his phone and give Shouyou a quick text. That always seemed to help him calm down a little.

Getting back into their car helps him out a lot--he can rest the travel cage on his lap and not worry about his shaking hands as much. Unfortunately, his thoughts are now racing a mile a minute about which way would be best to hold the cage so it wouldn't fall if the car happened to jerk suddenly. Kenma lets out a breath he didn't even realize he was holding and his mom’s voice brings him back to focus

“So, Kenma, how about you name her for us?”

Images flash in his mind of the boy he’d been texting the entire time they were out the day before. He’s not sure why, but it seems to fit perfectly so he mumbles, “Uh, What about… Hinata?”


End file.
